Apparatus and associated method, by which to facilitate scheduling of data communications in a radio communications system

ABSTRACT

Apparatus, and associated method, for facilitating reverse link scheduling in a CDMA 2000 communication system ( FIG. 1 ,  10 ) that provides for high data rate communication services, such as 1xEV-DV communication services. Power control bits ( FIG. 1 ,  46 ) used to perform power control on the reverse link are punctured with rate grant control bits and HARQ indications. A power control bit puncturer ( FIG. 1 ,  48 ) punctures the power control bits with the rate grant control bits and HARQ indications. Physical layer signaling is thereby provided without the need to define additional control channels operations.

The present invention relates generally to a manner by which tofacilitate the scheduling of data communications in a radiocommunications system, such as a CDMA 2000 communication system thatprovides for 1xEV-DV data communications. More particularly, the presentinvention relates to an apparatus, and an associated method, by which toprovide, as physical layer signaling, rate selection commands and HARQindications to a mobile, or other, communication station operable in theradio communication system.

Power control commands, sent on an existing channel, are punctured withthe rate selection commands and HARQ indications. Because the signalingis carried out at the physical layer, the commands and indications areprovided quickly. Backward compatibility with prior generation devicesis also maintained.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Use of a communication system through which to communicate data is apractical necessity of modern society. Data is communicated pursuant tothe effectuation of many varied types of communication services. And,with continued advancements in communication technologies, additionaltypes of communication services, making use of the advancements incommunication technologies, are possible.

A communication system includes at least a first communication stationand a second communication station interconnected by way of acommunication channel. Data is communicated by the first communicationstation, referred to as a sending station, to the second communicationstation, referred to as a receiving station, by way of the communicationchannel. Data that is to be communicated by the sending station isconverted, if needed, into a form to permit the data to be communicatedupon the communication channel. And, the receiving station detects thedata communicated upon the communication channel and recovers theinformational content thereof.

A radio communication system is a type of communication system. In aradio communication system, a radio channel, defined upon a radio airinterface, forms the communication channel interconnecting the sendingand receiving stations. Conventional wireline communication systems, incontrast, require the use of fixed, wireline connections extendingbetween the communications stations upon which to define thecommunication channel.

A radio communication system provides various advantages in contrast toa wireline counterpart. Initial installation and deployment costsassociated with a radio communication system are generally less than thecosts required to install and deploy a corresponding wirelinecommunication system. And, a radio communication system can beimplemented as a mobile communication system in which one or more of thecommunication stations operable therein is permitted mobility.

A cellular communication system is an exemplary type of mobile radiocommunication system. Cellular communication systems have been installedthroughout significant portion of the populated areas of the world andhave achieved wide levels of usage. A cellular radio communicationsystem is a multi-user communication system in which radiocommunications are provided with a plurality of mobile stations.Telephonic communication of voice and data is effectuable by way of themobile stations. Mobile stations are sometimes of sizes to permit theirconvenient carriage by users of the mobile stations.

A cellular radio communication system includes network infrastructurethat is installed throughout the geographical area that is encompassedby the communication system. Mobile stations operable in the cellularcommunication system communicate, by way of radio channels, with basestations that form parts of the network infrastructure of thecommunication system.

Base stations are a fixed-site radio transceiver that transceives datawith the mobile stations. The base stations are installed atspaced-apart locations throughout the geographical area encompassed bythe communication system. Each of the base stations defines a cell,formed of a portion of the geographical area. A cellular communicationsystem is so-called because of the cells that together define thecoverage area of the communication system.

When a mobile station is positioned within a cell defined by a basestation, communications are generally effectuable with the base stationthat defines the cell. Due to the inherit mobility of a mobile station,the mobile station might travel between cells defined by different onesof the base stations. Continued communications with the mobile stationis provided through communication hand off procedures between successiveones of the base stations defining the successive ones of the cellsthrough which the mobile station passes. Through appropriate positioningof the base stations, the mobile station, wherever positioned within thearea encompassed by the communication system, shall be withincommunication proximity of at least one base station.

Only relatively low-powered signals need to be generated to effectuatecommunications between a mobile station and a base station when the basestations are suitably positioned at selected spaced-apart locations.Hand-offs of communications between the successive base stations permitcontinued communications without necessitating increases in the powerlevels at which the communication signals are transmitted. And, becausethe signals that are generated are all generally of low powered levels,the same radio channels can be reused at different locations of thecellular communication system. The frequency spectrum allocated to acellular communication system is thereby efficiently utilized.

A cellular communication system is constructed, generally, to beoperable pursuant to an operating specification of a particularcommunication standard. Successive generations of communicationstandards have been developed, and operating specifications definingtheir operational parameters have been promulgated. First-generation andsecond-generation cellular communication systems have been deployed andhave achieved significant levels of usage. Third-generation andsuccessor-generation systems are undergoing development,standardization, and, at least with respect to the third-generationsystems, partial deployment.

An exemplary third-generation cellular communication system is a systemthat operates pursuant to the operating protocol set forth in a CDMA2000 operating specification. A CDMA 2000 cellular communication system,constructed in conformity with the CDMA 2000 operating specification,provides for packet-based data communication services.

Various technology proposals by which to effectuate communication ofpacket data at high data rates in a CDMA 2000 communication system havebeen proposed. By transmitting data at high data rates, increasedamounts of data are able to be communicated in a given time period.

The 1xEV-DV data communication service is one such proposal. The 1xEV-DVdata service utilizes a HARQ (Hybrid-ARQ) acknowledgement/negativeacknowledgement (ACK/NACK) feedback scheme. A 1xEV-DV communicationservice is also available at multiple data rates. That is to say, thedata rates at which the data is communicated are selectable.

Control provisions by which to control the data rate of uplink data,i.e., data communicated by a mobile station to the networkinfrastructure of a CDMA 2000 communication system, are not set forth inthe operating specification. That is to say, generally, there is noprovision for controlling the data rate, and HARQ operations, tofacilitate scheduling of data communications on the uplink.

A mechanism by which to facilitate uplink scheduling of datacommunicated pursuant to a 1xEV-DV communication service is needed.

It is in light of this background information related to packet datacommunication services that the significant improvements of the presentinvention have evolved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, accordingly, advantageously provides apparatus,and an associated method, by which to facilitate scheduling of datacommunications in a radio communication system, such as a radiocommunication system operable pursuant to a CDMA 2000 communicationscheme that provides for 1xEV-DV data communications.

Through operation of an embodiment of the present invention, a manner isprovided by which to provide, as physical layers signaling, rateselection commands and HARQ (Hybrid-ARQ) indications to a mobile, orother communication, station operable in the radio communication system.

In one aspect of the present invention, power control commands, sent onan existing channel, are punctured with rate selection commands and HARQindications. Because the signaling is carried out at a logical layerforming the physical layer of the communication system, the commands andindications are provided quickly. Backward compatibility with priorgeneration devices is maintained, thereby to permit continued operationof communication stations, otherwise operable in the CDMA 2000communication system, but that do not provide for 1xEV-DV communicationservices.

A channel structure is defined pursuant to an embodiment of the presentinvention that facilitates data rate and hybrid ARQ control on a datauplink, i.e., the reverse link channels, upon which data is communicatedby a mobile station to the network infrastructure. Power control bitsconventionally communicated upon, e.g., a Common Power Control Channel(CPCCH), a Fundamental Channel (FCH), or a Dedicated Control Channel(DCCH) are punctured with ACK/NAK bits and RGC (Rate Grant Control)bits.

Rate requests are generated at mobile stations that are to communicate,or are communicating, 1xEV-DV data upon reverse link channels. Raterequests are communicated to the network infrastructure of thecommunication system. Data scheduling operations are performed at thenetwork infrastructure. Amongst the data scheduling operation performedthat the network infrastructure are rate grant selections granting, ordenying, the rate requests generated by the individual ones of themobile stations. And, thereafter, the rate grants, or rate denials, areused in the formation of rate grant control bits. Rate grant controlbits are of first values to indicate a rate grant of the rate requestsand of second values to indicate rate denial of the rate requests. And,the power control bits, otherwise generated to control the power levelsof which the data communicated by the mobile stations, or punctured withthe rate grant control bits.

Further pursuant to operation of an embodiment of the present invention,the mobile stations generate the rate requests that request,alternately, data rate increases and data rate decreases. The raterequests formed by the mobile station are selected responsive to, forinstance, the operational data rate permitted of the mobile station, theamount of data that is to be communicated, and the reserve poweravailable at the mobile station. In one implementation, a single measureis formed, in the form of a single bit, indicative of a relativepersistence of the data that is to be communicated by, or is beingcommunicated by, the mobile station.

In another aspect of the present invention, the mobile stations senddata packets or frames during a communication session to effectuate acommunication service. When delivered to the network infrastructure, adetermination is made whether the data packet or frame has beenadequately delivered. And, an ACK or NAK bit is returned to the mobilestation to indicate whether the data packet has been successfullydelivered to the network infrastructure. Further pursuant to operationof embodiment of the present invention, the power control bits arepunctured with values of the ACK and NAK bits. The mobile stationmonitors channels upon which the power control bits are transmitted, andthe mobile station, pursuant to such monitoring, detects the values ofthe HARQ feedback, formed of the ACK or NAK bits. Responsive to thevalue of the HARQ feedback, the mobile station selectively retransmitsthe data packet or frame.

The power control bits, and the rate grant control bits and HARQfeedback bits are communicated at the physical layer, thereby providingquick control of the data communicated by the mobile station on thereverse link pursuant to the 1xEV-DV communication service. Backwardcompatibility with mobile stations that do not operate pursuant to1xEV-DV communications is also provided as the values of the rate grantcontrol bits and HARQ feedback bits are otherwise considered to be powercontrol bits.

In these another aspects, therefore, apparatus, and an associatedmethod, is provided for a radio communication system. The radiocommunication system has a first communication station operable at leastto send power control commands upon at least a power control channel toat least a second communication station. The power control command isused at the second communication station to control an operationalparameter associated with a power level at which data subsequently to becommunicated therefrom is sent. Control of selected operation of thesecond communication station is facilitated. A power control commandpuncturer is adapted to receive indications of an other-than-powercontrol command. The power control command puncturer punctures the powercontrol commands broadcast upon the at least the power control subchannel with the other-than-power-control command.

A more complete appreciation of the present invention and the scopethereof can be obtained from the accompanying drawings, which arebriefly summarized below, the following detailed description of thepresently-preferred embodiments of the invention, and the appendedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a functional block diagram of a radio communicationsystem in which an embodiment of the present invention is operable.

FIG. 2 illustrates a representation of an exemplary sub channel of apower control channel defined in the radio communication system shown inFIG. 1 and power control bits that are generated during operation of theradio communication system.

FIG. 3 illustrates a functional block diagram of a portion of a basestation that forms a portion of the radio communication system shown inFIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates a graphical representation of manners by which valuesof rate request bits are formed during operation of a radiocommunication system of an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a representation, similar to that shown in FIG. 2,but here in which rate grant control bits and ACK/NAK bits aresubstituted for selected ones of the power control bits.

DETAILED OF THE DESCRIPTION

Referring first to FIG. 1, a radio communication system, shown generallyat 10, forms a multi-user radio communications system permitting ofradio communication with mobile stations. In the figure, two exemplarymobile stations 12 are represented. In the exemplary of implementation,the communication system forms a cellular communication system thatoperates, generally, in conformity with the operating protocolspromulgated in the CDMA 2000 communication system that provides for1xEV-DV data communications.

Embodiments of the present invention are, however, also implementable inother types of communication systems in which data communicationservices are effectuable at selectable data rates and in communicationsystems that utilize an HARQ feedback scheme. Accordingly, while thefollowing description shall describe exemplary operation of anembodiment of the present invention with respect to its implementationin a CDMA 2000 communication system that provides for 1xEV-DV datacommunication services, the present invention is analogously alsooperable in other types of communication systems.

Two-way communications are effectuated during operation of thecommunication system 10. A radio air interface formed between a networkinfrastructure and the mobile stations defines forward link (ordownlink) and reverse link (or uplink) channels upon which data iscommunicated to the mobile station and the data is communicated by themobile stations. The arrows 14 are representative of forward linkchannels, and the arrows 16 are representative of reverse link channels.Both the forward link channels and the reverse link channels includeboth data channels and control channels. Communication data iscommunicated upon the data channel, and control data is communicatedupon the data channels.

Various data channels are defined in the CDMA 2000/1xEV-DV operatingspecification. Power control channels are amongst the control channelsthat are defined in the operating specification. Power control bits arecommunicated upon the power control channels and are used to control thepower levels at which communication data is communicated upon the datachannels. On the forward link, for instance, a common power controlchannel (CPCCH), a dedicated control channel (DCCH), and a fundamentalchannel (FCH) are all defined in the CDMA 2000 operating specification.Details relating to the channels as well as the control, or other, datacommunicated thereon is available in the operating specificationrelating to CDMA 2000/1xEV-DV. One, or more, of these channels is usedduring operation of an embodiment of the present invention tocommunicate control data to the mobile station to facilitate control ofrates at which 1xEV-DV data is communicated upon a reverse link channelby the mobile station to the network infrastructure. And, also pursuantto operation of an embodiment of the present invention, HARQ feedbackbits are provided to the mobile station to identify whether a previouslytransmitted data packet upon a reverse link channel has beensuccessfully delivered to the network infrastructure.

The network infrastructure of the communication system is here shown toinclude a base station 18. The base station includes radio transceivercircuitry that operates pursuant to a code division multiplexing schemeto communicate with mobile stations, such as the two mobile stationsillustrated in the Figure. Forward link signals are generated uponforward links 14 for communication to the mobile stations, and reverselink signals, here generated pursuant to a code division multiple access(CDMA) communications scheme are communicated to the base station uponreverse link channels, to be received by receive circuitry of the basestation. The base station forms a portion of a radio access network partof the network infrastructure. The radio access network part alsoincludes a Base Station Controller (BSC) 22 to which the base station 18is coupled. The base station controller operates, amongst other things,to control operation of the base station. The radio access network partof the network infrastructure is coupled to a Packet Data Network (PDN)28, here by way of a gateway (gwy) 30. A Correspondent Node (CN) 32 iscoupled to the packet data network. A correspondent node isrepresentative of a communication node that forms an ultimate source orultimate destination of data communicated with a mobile station 12. Thecorrespondent node forms, for instance, a telephonic station or, forinstance, a content server.

Scheduling operations are performed at the radio access network toschedule communications between the network infrastructure and themobile station. Scheduling on the reverse link, performed at the radioaccess network portion of the infrastructure, is communicated to themobile stations, and the reverse link that is communicated by theindividual ones of the mobile station according to the schedulingprovided thereto by the network infrastructure. Power control of thepower levels of the reverse link data is also controlled at the networkinfrastructure portion of the radio access network.

A scheduler 44 is also shown in the Figure. The scheduler is embodied atthe radio access network portion of the network infrastructure,implemented, for instance, at the base station or base stationcontroller. The elements of the scheduler are functionally representedand are implementable in any desired manner and at any desired location.The scheduler schedules the reverse link data communications of themobile stations 12, here also to include various parameters by which thereverse link data communications are effectuated. And, here, also, thescheduler performs the scheduling of the 1xEV-DV data communications.

The scheduler includes a power control command generator that operatesin conventional manner by which to generate power control bits that aresent upon forward link channels to control the power levels at which thereverse link data is communicated. The scheduler also includes, pursuantto an embodiment of the present invention, a power control commandpuncturer 48. The power control command puncturer operates to puncturethe power control bits generated by the power control bit generator withrate grant control bits and HARQ indications. Values of the rate grantcontrol bits are here represented to be applied to the puncturer by wayof the line 52. And, the HARQ indications are here represented to beapplied to the puncturer by way of the line 54. Values of the rate grantcontrol bits and of the HARQ indications are determined elsewhere at thescheduler or elsewhere within the infrastructure part of thecommunication system. Determination of the rate grants are dependent, atleast in part, upon information communicated to the networkinfrastructure by individual ones of the mobile stations.

Various factors that affect scheduling are dynamic, i.e., changeable.Others are static. The scheduler schedules the communications on thereverse link channels in a manner best to allocate what, and how much,information is to be communicated upon the reverse link channels. Thepower control bits, and the punctured bits inserted therein by thepuncturer are formed at the physical layer of the communication system,thereby to facilitate the speed at which the commands are communicatedand the control is effectuated upon the reverse link communications.Because the rate grant control bits and HARQ indications are substitutedfor values of the power control bits, the operation of the scheduler iscompatible both with mobile stations that are 1xEV-DV capable as well aswith mobile stations that are not 1xEV-DV capable. Rate grant controlbits and HARQ indications are provided to the mobile stations that are1xEV-DV capable without the need to define an additional channelstructure. Puncturing is performed by the puncturer upon power controlbits generated upon any of the aforementioned channels, i.e., the CPCCH,the FCH, or the DCCH.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary forward link channel 14 upon which powercontrol bits are generated. The power control bits 62 are generated at a800 Hz rate. These rates correspond to generation of one power controlbit 62 during each 1.25 ms slot 64. When the channel 14 forms an FCH ora DCCH, there is only one power control sub channel available to controla mobile station while, when the channel 14 forms a CPCCH, typicallythere are 24 power control sub channels thereon, permitting simultaneouscontrol of up to 24 mobile stations.

Referring back again to FIG. 1, the mobile stations 12 also includeapparatus of an embodiment of the present invention, here forming a raterequestor 66. The rate requester generates requests that arecommunicated to the network infrastructure of the communication systemand, responsive to which, the rate grant commands are made. Puncturingof the power control bits with the rate grant control bits is alsoadvantageous for the reason that data rate control is analogous to, andcan be considered another form of, power control. The rate requestformed by the rate requester requests, in the exemplary implementation,through the generation of a single-bit a value, a rate increase or arate decrease. The rate requester generates the rate request responsive,for instance, to indications of the amount of data that is to becommunicated by the mobile station, the reserve power available at themobile station, and the operational data rate available at the mobilestation. Indications of such values are provided to the rate requester,here indicated by way of the lines 72, 74, and 76. A single measureformed by the rate requestor indicates the relative persistence of thedata communicated by, or to be communicated by, the mobile station,always a function of the data rate used by the mobile station. Thepersistence is denoted herein as buffer activity.

FIG. 3 illustrates a graphical representation, shown generally at 82, ofan exemplary threshold selection performed by the rate requestor whenselecting whether to request a rate increase or a rate decrease. Theplot 84 is a plot of the transmitter buffer activity, plotted as afunction of time. Variables, such as those just-mentioned and providedto the rate requester on the line 72, 74, and 76, are used to determinethe transmit buffer activity as the function of time. Here, the activityfunction is assumed to be unimodal. In one implementation, for theactivity status, determinations are made at the network infrastructureof the relative length of the overall data transmission assuming thatthe mobile station reports a metric, such as the buffer activity factoror rate requests. The rate requestor here generates the single bit rateincrease request or rate decrease request depending upon whether theplot point at a given time is to the left of, or to the right of, theline 86. Data rate is alterable, for instance, by altering themodulation or coding scheme. The following table indicates variousexemplary modulation and coding schemes that are incrementable pursuantoperation of various embodiment of the present invention.

Bits/ Data Rate Frame (Kbps) R Factor Deletion Symbols Modulation 1689.6 ¼ 2x 0 1536 BPSK 360 19.2 ¼ 1x 0 1536 BPSK 744 38.4 ¼ 1x 0 3072 BPSK1512 76.8 ¼ 1x 0 6144 BPSK 3048 153.6 ¼ 1x 0 12288 BPSK 6120 307.2 ¼ 1x0 24576 QPSK 12264 614.4 ½ 1x 0 24576 QPSK 18408 921.6 ¾ 1x 0 24576 QPSK27624 1382.4 ¾ 1x 0 36864 8PSK

FIG. 4 illustrates a functional representation of operation of a portionof the scheduler together with portions of the transmit circuitry of thebase station. Data that is to be communicated upon a power controlchannel is formed on the line 82. At the element 84, a frame qualityindicator is added. Then, at the element 86, eight reserved encoder tailbits are added. Thereafter, and as indicated by the element 88, viterbiis performed. And, thereafter, at the element 92, symbol repetition isperformed. And, as illustrated at the element 94, symbol puncturing bythe puncturer 48 is performed. Interleaving thereafter is performed, asindicated by the element 96.

The power control sub channels upon which power control bits, togetherwith the rate grant control bits and HARQ indication bits, in theexemplary implementation, use encoding. Typical power control bit errorrates are, for instance, 0.04. Improved performance is possible throughsimple repetition of communication of the data bits.

FIG. 5 illustrates a representation, similar to that shown in FIG. 2,but here showing the bits generated upon one of the aforementioned powercontrol channels, here illustrating the bits generated thereon pursuantto operation of the puncturer of an embodiment of the present invention.Pursuant to the puncturing operations, rate grant control bits 98 andAcknowledgeNegative Acknowledge (ACK/NACK) bits 102 are substituted forpower control bits at selected intervals. Here, two rate grant controlbits and two A/N bits are substituted for power control bits within a 20ms. Uplink scheduling is thereby provided through the generation of thebits on the physical layer channel. Channels that are currently definedare used, thereby obviating the need to define additional controlchannels. And, the scheme is backwardly compatible to permit continuedoperation of existing devices.

The preferred descriptions are of preferred examples for implementingthe invention, and the scope of the invention should not necessarily belimited by this description. The scope of the present invention isdefined by the following claims.

1. In a radio communication system having a first communication stationoperable at least to send power control commands upon at least a powercontrol channel to at least a second communication station, the powercontrol commands used at the second communication station to control anoperational parameter associated with a power level at which datasubsequently to be communicated therefrom is sent, an improvement ofapparatus for facilitating control of selected operation of the secondcommunication station, said apparatus comprising: a power controlcommand puncturer adapted to receive indications of an other-than-powercontrol command, said power control command puncturer for puncturing thepower control commands sent upon the at least the power controlsubchannel with the other-than-power-control command.
 2. The apparatusof claim 1 wherein the power control channel comprises a Common PowerControl Channel (CPCCH) defined in a cellular CDMA 2000 communicationsystem that provides for 1xEV-DV communication, and wherein the powercontrol commands punctured by said power control command puncturer aresent upon the Common Power Control Channel.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2wherein the at least the second communication station comprises thesecond communication station and at least a third communication station,wherein the power control commands sent by the first communicationstation are sent upon a first part of the Common Power Control Channelto the second communication station and upon a third part of the CommonPower Control Channel to the third communication station.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 1 wherein the power control channel comprises aFundamental Channel (FCH) defined in a cellular CDMA 2000 communicationsystem that provides for 1xEV-DV communication, and wherein the powercontrol commands punctured by said power control command puncturer aresent upon the Fundamental Channel.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 whereinthe power control channel comprises a Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH)defined in a cellular CDMA 2000 communication system that provides for1xEV-DV communication, and wherein the power control commands puncturedby said power control command puncturer are sent upon the DedicatedControl Channel.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the firstcommunication station is defined in terms of logical layers, the logicallayers including a physical layer, and wherein said power controlcommand puncturer is embodied at the physical layer.
 7. The apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein the radio communication system utilizes an HARQ (HybridAutomatic RQ) feedback scheme to acknowledge whether receive-data issuccessfully received, wherein the selected operation of the secondcommunication station comprises selective retransmission of thereceive-data, and wherein the other-than-power control command, theindications of which said power control command puncturer is adapted toreceive, comprise indications of whether the receive-data issuccessfully received.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein theother-than-power-control command with which said power control commandpuncturer functions the power control commands comprise ACK(acknowledgement) indications to acknowledge successful reception of thereceive data.
 9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein theother-than-power-control command with which said power control commandpuncturer punctures the power control command comprise NAK (negativeacknowledge) indications to acknowledge unsuccessful reception of thereceive data.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the data iscommunicated at a selected data rate, and wherein the other-than-powercontrol command indications of which said power control commandpuncturer is adapted to receive, comprise rate control commands, valuesof which are determination of selection of the selected data rate atwhich the data is communicated.
 11. In the radio communication system ofclaim 1, a further improvement of apparatus for the at least the secondcommunication station, said apparatus comprising: an operationalselection requester for requesting the selected operation of the secondcommunication station.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the data inselectably communicated by the second communication station at aselected data rate, wherein the selected operation of the secondcommunication station comprises communicating the data at the selecteddata rate, and wherein requests generated by said operational selectionrequester request permission to communicate the data at the selecteddata rate.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the requests generatedby said operational selection requester comprise a selected one of arate increase request and a rate decrease request.
 14. The apparatus ofclaim 12 wherein the selected data rate at which said operationalselection requester requests permission to communicate is dependent, atleast in part, upon an amount of data that is to be communicated by thesecond communication station.
 15. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein theselected data rate at which said operational selection requesterrequests permission to communicate is dependent, at least in part, upona power-capacity indicia associated with the second communicationstation.
 16. In a method of communicating in a radio communicationsystem having a first communication station operable at least to sendpower control commands upon at least a power control channel to at leasta second communication station, the power control commands used at thesecond communication station to control an operational parameterassociated with a power level at which data subsequently to becommunicated therefrom is sent, an improvement of a method forfacilitating control of selected operation of the second communicationstation, said method comprising: obtaining indications of another-than-power-control command associated with the selected operation;and puncturing the power control commands sent upon the at least thepower control channel with the other-than-power-control command.
 17. Themethod of claim 16 wherein the selected operation with which theother-than-power-control command is associated comprises a data rate atwhich the data is permitted to be communicated, wherein theother-than-data-power-control command comprises a data rate selectioncommand, and wherein the indications obtained during said operations ofobtaining comprises obtaining indications of the data rate selectioncommand.
 18. The method of claim 17 wherein the power control commandsare punctured during said operation of puncturing with data rateselection commands.
 19. The method of claim 17 further comprising theoperation, prior to said operations of obtaining, of sending, from thesecond communication station to the first communication station, a datarate request requesting permission to send the data at the selected datarate.
 20. The method of claim 16 wherein the radio communication uplinkutilizes an HARQ (Hybrid-ARQ) feedback scheme to acknowledge whetherreceive-data is successfully delivered to the first communicationstation, wherein the selected operation comprises selectiveretransmission of the receive data, and wherein theother-than-power-control command, the indications of which are obtainedduring said operation of obtaining comprise indications of whether thereceive-data is successfully received.